QUINCY — Both the girls and boys St. Mary’s basketball teams advanced to their respective championship games Wednesday evening during a double-header at Quincy High.
The girls team, ranked No.1, faced the No. 4 Rockland Bulldogs, winning convincingly 70-43. And despite a slow start, the No. 2 boys team followed with a 58-47 victory against No. 3 Old Rochester.
First, it was the girls who were led by seniors Niya Morgen (20 points) and Yirsy Queliz (15), as well as a big boost from sophomore center Reese Matela (15).
“We have a veterans group,” head coach Jeff Newhall said. “They’ve played in a lot of big games. We play one of the best schedules in the state to prepare us for this time of year.”
To start the second quarter, the Spartans held a 12-point lead (19-7). From there, they turned up the defense and held the Bulldogs to just two points in the second quarter, taking a 40-9 lead into halftime.
St. Mary’s defensive versatility forced the Bulldogs into constant turnovers.
“That’s part of our defensive philosophy. You can be 6-0 or you can be 5-1. You’ve got to pressure the ball, and we were able to do that tonight,” Newhall said.
Matela, despite being the tallest player on the floor, switched on defense to guard quicker guards – staying in front of them on top of recording a few blocked shots.
“We have a true center, but we have confidence in what she can do. I think she did a lot of good things tonight. A couple of times, she was dragged out to cover a point guard and was fine with it,” Newhall said.
Queliz showed her two-way game, coming up with multiple steals. Even when she was defending in the post, her quick hands were the difference. On offense, everything flowed through her, and she regularly made the right decision between shooting and passing.
After the girls game, the boys took the floor – but it was not a good start for the Spartans.
Old Rochester drilled five threes in the opening quarter, giving them a 17-12 lead.
“It was a back-and-forth game,” head coach David Brown said.
But just like the girls, the boys relied on their veterans.
St. Mary’s started five seniors and, even with the early deficit, never wavered. This was especially the case with forward Omri Merryman (17 points) who hit big shots all night long.
“Omri stepped up and knocked down some big ones in the fourth quarter to give us breathing room,” Brown said. “Omri has made big shots in his career. The moment is not too big for him.”
The first big shot came at the halftime buzzer. The Bulldogs were sitting in their zone defense, and the Spartans worked the ball around until the ball found Merryman in the corner. From there, he hit nothing but net to give the Spartans a 27-24 lead.
“That shot right at the buzzer was huge,” Brown said. “It was great execution; that was huge for momentum going into half.”
Holding on to a three-point lead going into the fourth quarter (36-33), Merryman stepped up once again.
The Spartans opened the quarter on a 5-0 run after a Merryman three. A few minutes later, it was Merryman again from deep – his fifth of the night – to extend the Spartans’ lead to 44-35.
St. Mary’s never looked back. A dunk at the buzzer by Donel Kabongo Mutombo punched the team’s ticket back to the championship game.
